Water-wheel



('No Model.)

D. DONNELLY.

WATER WHEEL.

No. 255,259. 5 Patented Mar. 21,1882.

- UNITED S ATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL DONNELLY', OF SUTTER CREEK, CALIFORNIA.

WATER-WHEEL.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,259, dated March 21, 1882.

I 7 Application filedJ'anuary 18,1 882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern 'Be it known that I, DANIEL DONNELLY, of Sutter Creek, county ofAmador, State ofGalifornia, have invented an Improved Water- Wheel; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the class of waterwheels, and more particularly to that subclass, in which the force of the water is directed upon or into buckets on the rim of the wheel, and are commonly known as hurdygurdy water-wheels.

My invention consists in the novel construction of'the bucket with regard to its outer or back portion as well as to its face or inner surface, whereby the-stream of water is received and. discharged to the best advantage and the discharged water or spray does not impede the revolution of the wheel, all of which will hereinafter be more fully described.

In wheels of this character revolving in a vertical plane upon a horizontal axis the nozzle from which the water is forced is usually placed at the lowest portion of the wheel, so

that its stream may be directed upon or into the buckets descending as they successively come within the line of its discharge. These buckets upon the rim are generally placed so close together and the nozzle in such near proximity that a prime object is to construct them so that they will free themselves of the Water the moment its force is expended, in order that they may not interfere with each other and retard the wheel. In the first forms of these wheels perfectly flat pieces were used against which to direct the stream. These, while they were of a shape to receive the force of the stream to the best advantage, could not easily free themselves, and the water, having no proper reaction, remained to hinder the succeeding buckets and the progress of the whole wheel. An attempt was made to improve upon this by inclining the edges or sides of the buckets, the bottom still remaining flat and straight, and though this effected good results it still failed to free the buckets. Subsequently ascoop-shaped bucket was introduced, the inner face of which was bounded entirely by curved lines. This bucket freed itself by the reaction of the water much better than the others; but the force of the water was .impaired by striking upon or within a complete concavity, and whatever advantage the first forms of buckets possessed by reason of opposing a fiat surface to the stream was thus destroyed. Another objection to all the forms of buckets used in this connection is that their backs are so formed as to carry up water with them, thus in a measure retarding the motion.

From this briefreviewof the state ofthe art, as far as I am aware, it will be readily seen wherein the advantages of my invention lie.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a general view of my wheel. Fig. 2 is a perspective of my bucket, showing its fall. Fig. 3 shows its back. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the bucket in Fig. 2 through line mm. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of same through line 3 3 Let A represent a wheel upon a horizontal axis, B, and having a rim, 0.

LetD represent the buckets. These have at their rear ends a shank, E, set a little off the center, and are fitted to the rim by having their backs impinge upon its periphery, and theireshanks pass beside it, and bolted or riveted thereto securely.

The shape of the face or inner surface ofthe bucket D may be thus described. In the direction of its lengththat is, from top to bottom-it is hollowed out, its walls sloping in curved lines to the center. In the direction of its widththat is, from side to side it is hollowed out down to a certain distance upon each side of a central line drawn through its length, and is there left fiat. Its concaved sides are designated by 0, and its flat bottom by m. This flat portion at therefore extends the length of the bucket, and may be in width about one-third of the whole, or sufficient only to receive upon itself the stream of Water. The bucket being hollowed out in this manner, the edges are curved down, those upon the sides in a true curve, while those upon the ends are 5 below the center upon the flattened portion m, which presents a better surface for the impact than it it were concaved upon all sides. Atter striking, it follows easily the contour of the curved sides 0 rather than the flat portion m, and is discharged from side to side rather than over its top and bottom. Thus I obtain the advantage of a flat or straight surface against which to direct the force of the water, at the same time that I havethe curved sidesthe construction best suited to free the buckets in the reaction.

In order to be impeded as little as possible by the spray and waste water, I construct the back or outer surface of the bucket as shownthat is, the lines are all curved or sharpened to an inclined line, a, in the center of the back in a manner similar to the prow ot' a ship. This adapts it to clear itself of water readily, very little being carried up with it, and is a decided point ot'advantage when the wheel is PM'OlYCtl at a high rate of speed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A water-wheel, A, with its rim 0, to which are secured the buckets D, said buckets having faces constructed with concaved sides 0, and a central portion or bottom, m, concaved in the direction of its length and flat in the direction ofits width, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. A water-wheel, A, having buckets 1) secured to its rim, said buckets having their rear faces 0r sides formed like the prow of a ship-tl1at is, curved to the line asubstantially as and for the purpose herein described.

In witness whereot'l hereunto set my hand.

DANIEL DONNELLY.

Witnesses:

F. A. HUWARD, J. 0. BARTLETT. 

